Veteran Supriya Pathak remembers photo shoots in the 80s and 90s without toilets or vanities. “Passion has made us ignore the basics,” she told Bollywood Bubble, sharing a hay bale of mirch masala in the scorching heat. She welcomes today’s amenities as essential changes rather than luxury, changes won by the actors who stand firm.
Veteran actress Supriya Pathak recently took a nostalgic and candid trip down memory lane, highlighting the stark contrast between modern film sets and the grueling working conditions of the 80s and 90s.
In a recent interview, the ‘Khichdi’ actress revealed how she and her contemporaries often worked without basic necessities like bathrooms, vanities, or proper rest areas.
While narrating her experience shooting in a scorching chilli factory for the classic film ‘Mirch Masala’, Pathak shared how dozens of women rest on bundles of straw just to go about their day. While she credits “pure passion” in supporting actors of the past, she stresses that the shift toward better facilities today is a long-overdue victory of necessity over luxury.
Supriya Pathak prefers emotion over comfort
During her conversation with Bollywood Bubble, Supriya spoke about the film industry in the 90s and how actors were managing without vanity vans. She shared: “Mujhe aisa lagta hai ki basically hum log jo kaam karte the, phir se wahi passion ki baat aa jaati hai. Joh passion tha hamare andar act karne ka, ya characters banane ka, uski wajah se baaki saari cheezein unimportant lagti thi. Par dheere-dheere realize hua ki nahi, yeh This is what matters.
Aapko koi ek baithne ki jagah chahiye. As women, especially, aapko ek Bathroom ki honi chahiye facility. Matlab main aaj bhi kehti hoon ki kitni jagahon par hum Shoot karne jaate hain jahan Bathroom bhi Provide nahi kiya jaata ya hota hi nahi hai.
You need a place to sit. As women especially, you need access to the bathroom. Even today, I still say that in many of the places we shoot, basic facilities like bathrooms are either unavailable or non-existent.Supriya continued, “Toh phir dheere-dheere realizes Hone laga ki yeh saari necessities hain. Yeh hum luxury ke point of view se nahi bol rahe hain, hum necessity ke point of view se bol rahe hain. Toh us Tarah se thoda-thoda, I think, sabne jab foot put down kiya, tabs change aane lage.”
Producers ko bhi realize hone laga ki haan yaar, yeh saari cheezein toh honi chahiye. “(Then) slowly, we started to realize that all of these things are basic necessities.
We don’t talk about them as luxuries, but as basic needs. Gradually, as everyone began to stand their ground, changes began to occur. Even the producers are starting to understand that these things are absolutely necessary)
Supriya Pathak on basic needs
Pathak added, “Ek actor ke liye jaise hamare wahan Spot boys hote the, chai lana, agar aap sardi mein shot kar rahe ho, kahin bhishoot kar rahe ho, toh basic facilities toh chahiye hi.”
Khanna, pani, chai, yeh sab basic cheesin zarori hoti hain. Phir I think dheere-dheere yeh saare is changing the industry of hamari mein aane lage. Aaj shoots karna kavi murheeh hogaya hai, shahi aap kahin bhi ho. Pehele ke time se kaafi different hai.
Uss waqt toh hum literally kahin bhi, kuch bhi karke baith jaate the. “For an actor, just as we have boys on set, bringing tea and helping out – whether you are shooting in the cold or elsewhere – basic facilities are a must.
Food, water, tea – these little things are essential. I think all these changes are slowly starting to trickle into our industry. Today, photography has become more convenient, no matter where you are. It’s very different from those earlier days when we literally sat and managed anywhere and in any situation.The actress revealed, “Maine ek film ki thi Mirch Masala, jise Ketan Mehta ji ne direct kiya tha. Usmein hum saari auratein thi, about 10 women aur hum mirchi kifactory mein shot kar rahe the.”
Woh ek chhota sa gaon tha, bahut garmi thi. Wahan peeche ek shed jaisa tha jahan ghaas, yaani hay, dala hua tha. Shayad mirchi ko clean karne ka koi process wahan hota tha. Toh bade-bade packs of hay Bana ke rakhe hue the, aur hum pura din usi bar payet.
Kabhi usi par Let bhi jaate the.”(I had done a film called Mirch Masala, which was directed by Ketan Mehta. In that film, we were all women – about ten of us – shooting in a chilli factory.
It was a small village and it was very hot. Behind the group, there was a shed filled with hay, which was probably used in the process of cleaning chili peppers. Big bundles of straw were stacked there, and we sat on them all day. Sometimes, we would lie on them to rest.“Sab ek saath hote the, aur kabhi-kabhi doosre actors bhi aa jaate the wahan. Toh us waqt wahi Environment tha. Aur us waqt humein koi Farq bhi nahi Padta tha, ek toh hum young the, aur passion bhi bahut tha,” Pathak concluded.
Let there be a lot of lagta hai ki zaroori nahi hai ki logon ko us tarah se rakha jaye. Aaj mil sakti hain facilities. Milti nahi thi tab. Aaj kal itni milne lagi hain ki woh sab dekh kar thoda ajeeb lagta hai facilities, you know.
“(We) were all together, and sometimes other actors would join us there as well. That was the kind of environment at that time. It didn’t really bother us at the time – partly because we were young and full of emotion.
But now, I feel that people don’t have to work in those conditions. Today, suitable facilities are available. At the time, they weren’t. Now, when I see this kind of relaxed actor, I feel a little weird, you know.
More about Supriya Pathak
Supriya Pathak began working in theater with her mother, Dina Pathak, and then made her film debut with Kalyug (1981). She won awards for ‘Bazaar’ (1982) and ‘Ram-Leela’ (2013). She acted in films like ‘Masoom’ and ‘Mirch Masala’, in TV shows like ‘Khichdi’ (as Hansa) and ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’, and made a post-marriage comeback with ‘Sarkar’, ‘Wake Up Sid’, ‘Raid 2’ and ‘Khichdi 2’. She runs a production house with her husband Pankaj Kapoor.
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